The Living Room Redecoration

  

REDECORATING THE LIVING ROOM

     Gosh! I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since my last post.  Since I last talked with you I have broken my left leg, was in hospital 12 days with diverticulitis, and have been going to physical therapy for cervical spondylosis.  For those of you, like me, who have no idea what this is, the vertebra in my neck are collapsing and pinching the nerves.  Yikes!!!  It hurts, but PT is helping some, and pain meds.  Yes, YAY for pain meds.  

     So, in spite of all this I finally managed to finish the redecorating project called My Living Room.  I want right now to give a HUGE shout out to my Hubby. 

     Without him it never would have come to fruition.

     Now be prepared because this is going to be a long post.  There are tons of photos and lots of explanations.

     But first, the befores.  When we first moved in 15 years ago.  Very plain.  Now I know it doesn’t look bad, just plain, and brown. 

   Then there’s this version a few years later.  Couch reupholstered, no valance, but new pillows.   The coffee table was a gift from a very dear, now departed, friend.    

      Still brown!!!!   This is how it looked for years, how did I ever stand it? 

  Then it looked like this…….

     Some improvement, but not enough, AND the rug, although brightening, got dirty really easily.  And there was still too much brown. 

     So here we go.  A total re-do, except for the sofa.  I spent entirely too much on the reupholstery to have it done again so soon, so I’ll just have to live with it, or cover it up.  Notice the number of pillows!!

     And here’s the beginning……

     I wanted something unusual for a TV stand.  Hubs and I are old and we watch a lot of TV, and I had seen several sideboards on Pinterest that were used as TV stands.  Since my Living Room is part of a Great Room, a sideboard is just the right size.  We bought this one from a local “antique” shop.  It was in the back room with a bunch of unsellables because of damage or just plain uglies.  We got it for $80.  I still think it was too much, but it was solid and the only damage was on the top.  ~side note: later the same afternoon we visited another “antique” shop around the corner and there was a sideboard there all done over, the price $375.~  

     Hubs got to it before I did and had it partially disassembled when I took this picture.  With a load of sandpaper, lots of elbow grease, and some great paint from Sherwin-Williams, it is now a great piece of furniture. 

     Here it is several months ago.  It still looks like this, but the rest of the room doesn’t. 

     The next thing I would like to show-off is the rocking chair.  You see it above.  It’s been in Hubs family for close to 90 years and it looks it.  And it’s not very comfortable, the seat being very hard and those slats on your spine – painful!!! 

     Again, another idea from Pinterest.  Here’s the Pinterest post and my rocker.  A bit of difference, but you can see where I got the inspiration.

Theirs:

     I think I like mine better.  I know it’s a lot more comfortable.  I did not paint it, nor did I even clean it.  Hubs likes it the way it is, and since it is actually his, I just left.  I can tell you it is really comfortable to sit in now. 

     What did I do?  Nothing. Because of my neck problems, it is impossible for me to sew although I did manage to make a few pillows before having to give it up, so I hired it out.  We have a company in town called American Mills and they do sewing for you, just take them what you want (you can buy their fabric or take your own) and tell them what you want and they do it, for a fee, of course, but they are really reasonable. 

     I knew I wanted ruffles, but not on the seat cushion.  I wanted the cushion to be removable for washing, stuff tends to get really dirty around my house. And I wanted the ruffles removable in case I got tired of them or just wanted a different fabric.  The “throw” I have had for years.  When I washed it the fringe got all tangled, and having no patience, I just cut it off.

     That’s Audrey in the background. When I lived in Atlanta I bought Audrey from a neighbor in 1994, and she was 6 then, so she’s 28 years old now. 

     She loves to spend the summer on the back porch, lots of light, but no sun.  

     This is her third pot, which I painted.  I have more painted pots to show you, but that’s another post.  The blue and white pot was a gift from my kids years ago, I can’t even remember now.  The three other pots were gifts from Hubs Grandmother when we got married.  I think she just wanted to get them out of her house! 

     Next is the coffee table. The one gifted to me by a friend.  This is part of my new design style – I call it Shabby Eclectic.  If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I REALLY, REALLY do not like (read HATE) brown.  I loved the lines on this table, but IT WAS BROWN.  I thought about just getting rid of it, but every time I tried, I thought of my friend, hence, the make-over.  You’ve seen the before, NOW THE AFTER:

     That’s Hubs foot on the right.  He was resting as I was putting him to work trying to finish all these projects.  That’s what it looked like a few months ago.  We’ll get to the now in a moment.  Quite an improvement, yes?  My son had a fit that I actually painted an honest to goodness antique.  BUT IT WAS BROWN, and not an attractive brown at that.  I really like it so much more now.  All it took was a ruler, some tape, some paint and a little imagination.  It really (there’s that word again – but what else can I use) brightens up the room and it makes me smile every time I look at it. 

     Notice the leopard skin rug?  It was in the “hobby/computer room/office”.   When I decided to re-do that room into a library (next post) the rug didn’t fit because of the bookcases; where else to put it – in the Living Room, of course.  I know, it’s brown, but so is the floor, so it doesn’t count.

The picture frames have been painted Wicker White.

The rocking chair got a make-over.

The coffee table got an update.

New pillows on the sofa.

New curtains and a cornice board.

The pink and white star is actually a cake pan I painted.  I think it looks like a peppermint candy.  Makes me want candy every time I look at it.

     I think I overdecorated my coffee table, but I couldn’t decide which to use, so I used them all.

Painted a very dark grey candle holder white and added a white pumpkin.

Painted three Mason jars, distressed them and decorated with pumpkins, bittersweet, burlap, pinecones, and an old crocheted doily.

The glass pumpkin I bought at a local outlet store.

The milk glass candy dish I have had for years and years.  Don’t even remember where I got it.

The pillows on the sofa – some were made by the nice people at American Mills and some were bought at my favorite outlet store in town.

  

I painted the owl and the pig white.  Now they look like porcelain, not acrylic (owl) or brown chalk ware (pig).

Hubs made me a sofa table (next photo).  The tool box on the sofa table was my GrandDad’s.  It had been sitting in the shed for years, I had actually forgotten it was out there.  Brought it in, dusted it off, sanded it down a bit, and there it is.  Gorgeous.

     That poor little table by the door has been hanging around half naked since January 2016.  I will get around to finishing the painting probably in January 2017!

     Close ups of the owl and the pig.  Don’t they look like porcelain?  It’s just glossy white spray paint.

     

 This lamp was a find at The Christian's Women's Center in town for $7.99.  It worked and looked like it had recently been rewired, but it was bronze.  I loved the glass, but not the bronze, so it got a coat (actually two) of silver. Painted the mahogany stained side tables.  It looks sort of yellow, but it’s not.  Hubs just used some left over paint from when he painted the porches and banisters last summer.  It is sort of a light buttercream with polyurethane over it.

     Sorry about no before pictures of the lamps.  I had not been feeling well and Hubs got to them before I could snap a pic.  But just image bronze.

     The Dining Room in the background, the Kitchen is on the right, you can just see the faucet if you look real close.  There’s the other lamp I painted silver.  It was a good lamp and only cost $2.99 at the thrift store.  The shade was so filthy I thought it was ruined until I vacuumed it.  The only thing bad was the tape around the bottom was loose.  A little fabric glue and voila! it’s as good as new.  The little table with the squiggly legs between the chairs was purchased a few years ago.  It has not undergone a makeover, that’s the way it came.

     Hubs made the cornices.  Here’s my inspiration, and a close up of mine.

The inspiration.                                                  Mine:

  

     It’s not an exact match, but I like it.  It’s supposed to be barn wood, but it’s really (that word again) expensive and we didn’t have any suitable out at the old homestead, this is new wood.  First it was put together, then distressed. ((If you are interested I can probably get Hubs to write about how he made the cornices and got them up.))

     I beat on it a bit with a hammer and sanded the edges then stained it a dark brown stain.  After that dried, I painted it with three different shades of grey.  Then sanded it down a bit so some of the actual wood and the stain would show.  I probably could have sanded it a bit more, but I got tired and my neck was beginning to hurt.  And yes, it does look blue, but I did not use any blue paint.  When I took this pic, we had not gotten around to touching up the holes where the curtain rod used to hang. 

     Well, here’s the end.  This is what it looks like now.  I like it, Hubs likes it, and that’s all that matters.  It's cozy, homey, and comfortable AND you don't have to worry about messing up anything.  It's made to live in, and on. 

     Look out for my next post – it will be short – The Dining Room.  It’s a small room and there wasn’t much to do to it.  And next the Library, since these two will be relatively short, maybe I’ll just combine them into one blog post. 

     Then there’s my miscellaneous projects.  I promise I’ll get to it before Christmas.  I have a couple more I want to finish before I post, but I won’t keep you waiting too long.

     Until next time, Rant, Rave and Redecorate.

Victoria

a//k/a Bizzylizzy

Sorry, have been too busy to notice anything to Rant about, and since this is a non-political blog there will be no mention of the election, and because of the neck pain, I haven’t been cooking, Hubs has, so there’s no Recipes this time. 

I do have a Rave – Hubs.  He has been great helping out and doing the cooking.  I’ve got to get him something really (that word again) terrific for Christmas.  Any suggestions?

And I do NOT get any reimbursement or products for this blog.  All materials are purchased by me for my use and all opinions are my own.